I’m fuming.
Early April, I decided to activate the chat function in Google My Business, just to see if it would make it easier for customers to ask questions and engage with one of my businesses.
Day one, I get this message (grey) from a ‘verified level 4 5 local guide’. I respond immediately (blue), not even suspecting that this was just the beginning of a series of deceitful encounters that would happen on a daily basis.
I can smell fake reviews by miles when I’m reading them on Amazon for example, but I never suspected that positive fake reviews would plague the online landscape this systematically.
Just today, I received 4 messages like that. It’s really sad. These are obviously coming from fake accounts and I’m helpless to fight against each of them.
I always respond with my message (blue) just to make myself feel a bit better, then I report them as spam, but that’s all I can do really.
Don Quijote against the windmill …
Rant over.
Love,
Gabriella Ferenczi 